National wrestlers reach quarterfinals of European Championship
By Laman Ismayilova
Azerbaijani wrestlers have reached the quarter finals of the European Junior Championship in Dortmund, Germany.
Greco-Roman style athletes in the weight categories 60, 67, 72, 82 and 97 kg joined the fight on the sixth day of the competition.
Nihat Mammadli defeated the Armenian athlete (3:1), while Hasrat Jafarov won over Hungarian wrestler in just 1 minute 35 seconds.
Hasrat Hasanli confidently started the competition, defeating the Czech wrestler. Murad Ahmadiyev lost to the Georgian opponent.
Wrestling remains the most popular sport in the county and is overseen by the National Wrestling Federation, which was established in 1993.
The Rio Games opened a new page in wrestling for Azerbaijan. The country became one of only two nations ever to increase the number of medals achieved in five consecutive Games.
In 2020, Azerbaijani freestyle wrestlers finished third in the overall medal table of the Individual World Cup in Serbia.
National wrestlers won two medals, including silver and bronze. Russia topped the medal table followed by Turkey.
The national team also won five medals at Grand Prix Moscow held in Russia.
National wrestlers Shamil Zubairov (97 kg) left no chances to all his rivals, Islam Bazarganov (57 kg) and Davud Ibrahimov (65 kg) won silver medals. Gitinomahammad Hajiyev (74 kg) and Osman Nurmahammadov (86 kg) finished third in the Grand Prix. Thus, the national team won one gold, two silver and two bronze medals in the tournament.
Moreover, Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation (AWF) held a webinar for international and national judges.
The virtual meeting covered decisions to be made in freestyle wrestling, attack and counter-attack in Greco-Roman wrestling and other disciplines.
The judges also discussed some wrestling techniques and tricks used at last tournaments.
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